Devendra Jhajharia Wins Javelin Silver Medal, Sundar Singh Gurjar wins bronze in men's javelin throw
India's Devendra Jhajharia won the silver medal in the men's javelin throw - F46 final event on Monday at the Tokyo Paralympics with his best throw of 64.35, while Sundar Singh Gurjar won the bronze medal in the same event with his best throw of 64.01. The duo took India's total medal tally at the Paralympics 2020 Games to seven.
Gurjar, who won gold in the 2017 World Championships, was making his Paralympic debut. Jhajharia managed a best throw of 64.35m, which helped him surpass his own world and Games record of 63.97m which he had set at the 2016 Paralympics. Gurjar also surpassed Jhajharia's 2016 mark with a best throw of 64.01m. However, the pair were well behind Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyantha who managed a best throw of a whopping 67.79m. Priyantha had won bronze at the 2016 Paralympics.
Jhajharia started the event with two average throws of just over 60m mark, but then his third throw went 64.35m, reigniting hopes of a medal. The fourth and fifth throw from the Indian para-athlete were registered as fouls and the final one was registered at 61.23m. Sundar, too, started slow but registered a throw above the 64m marks in his fifth attempt to get into the medal contention. The third Indian javelin thrower in the final Ajeet Singh finished in the 8th position in the final. The F46 classification is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power, or impaired passive range of movement in arms, with athletes competing in a standing position.
Jhajharia and Gurjar's medals took India's tally to six confirmed medals, which has taken the contingent past its previous best of four at Rio 2016. Earlier on Monday, Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win gold at the Paralympics by winning the women's 10m air rifle event. Yogesh Kathuniya won the silver medal in the men's discus throw F56 event on Monday with a season-best throw of 44.38m.
High jumper Nishad Kumar and table tennis player Bhavani Patel had both won silver on Sunday. Discus thrower Vinod Kumar had won bronze in the F52 discus throw event but his result has been put under review.
